Let's Hear It for This High School Sophomore—and His Genius Idea to Open a Sneaker Pawnshop

Enterprising kids, huh? The New York Post brought us news that a business savvy 10th-grader has opened a pawn shop in Harlem catering just to high-end sneakers. As a fashion girl who's also engaged to a sneaker head, all I could think was, Genius.

"Young kids don't have jewelry. They don't have cars," youngster Chase "Sneakers" Reed's dad, Troy Reed, told the Post. "But what they do have is thousands of dollars' worth of sneakers in their house."

Reed (the younger) should know: He sold off his own collection of nearly 200 shoes to get money to put into the business. While we're talking numbers, please understand that the sneaker game isn't anything to sniff at. The store's most expensive pair of pawned sneakers is going for $1,400, an astronomical price when you consider the original sticker was $270.

The pawn shop setup is the same as always, with kids getting money for their kicks and then the opportunity to buy them back, plus a storage fee. If another customer ends up scoring them, the shop makes a profit.

Are you into the sneaker scene or, like me, close to someone who is? Think this kid's idea is beyond brilliant? Check it out for yourself at Lenox Avenue and West 120th Street in NYC.